The Internet is increasingly being used for data communications, but is lacking in the area of voice communications. Thus, despite considerable discussion regarding the convergence of voice and data, few strong examples of such convergence currently exist.
For instance, people are increasingly using web-based Internet communications to gather information related to business and commerce. Such information may involve shopping for products and services. These communications typically involve using a browser to view hypertext documents. However, for many people, gathering information in this manner is insufficient. This is because many people still prefer voice conversations to discuss details and find out more information.
In a shopping context, a customer may initiate a voice conversation by viewing a telephone number from a company's web page and entering it into his phone manually. Alternatively, the company's web site may include a form that allows the customer to create a contact request. Based on this contact request, the company can call the customer back at a later time.
These techniques are inconvenient from the perspective of both customers and companies. For instance, these techniques require the customer to input information. Also, the submission of a contact request yields uncertainty regarding when the company will call back.
For the company, such techniques can unfortunately fail to gather desired information from the customer. An example of such information includes the particular web page that triggered the customer to call the company. This information can be used by the company in various ways to assess the reason for the customer call and to facilitate a productive conversation.
New alternatives are emerging for customers to initiate voice communications. For instance, it is possible for a user to initiate a call from a phone's browser by clicking any phone number. However, a drawback of this technique is that it only works if the customer is using his phone for browsing (which is still a rather rare in comparison to using a personal computer (PC) for browsing). Also, it is possible for a customer to initiate a call in a PC's browser by making a voice over IP (VoIP) call. However, few people are eager to use their PC for voice communications, even if the popularity of VoIP is increasing.
Also, multiple call links can allow a customer to call the proper department of a complex call center without requiring the customer to enter several numbers on his/her phone. In addition, such links can alleviate the need to traverse a call center's extensive voice navigation menus. Thus, the customer may more efficiently reach the right person to deal with his/her concern.
However, the above alternatives do not support the dominant and, for many people, natural way of separately using a computer (e.g., a PC) to view web pages and converse using telephone (e.g., a mobile phone). Moreover, there is a need for techniques that allow a person to choose a call link, and create a voice call with an entity in such a way that the entity has information regarding the circumstances of the call.